12' royalex 33lb. solo canoe....I'm thinking of a purchase and would
appreciate comments from those familiar with this or other short,
light solo or double ender canoes.

H Hornblower wrote:

12' royalex 33lb. solo canoe....I'm thinking of a purchase and would
appreciate comments from those familiar with this or other short,
light solo or double ender canoes.


I've heard good things from beaver pond fishermen who use this & similar
models to get through the brush & onto little-used ponds. I would never
consider any canoe other than double enders untill my guiding lets me
afford a 22' Scott for the big lakes.

Yours in the north Maine woods,
Pete Hilton (Reg. Me. Guide) aka The Ent

--
Either everyone has rights or some have privileges.
It's really that simple.
Walt Kelly

I just traded mine toward a kayak. I had the Pack for several years.
Yes they are light and easy to carry. However they are very unstable.
Last year I tried to rock mine to see how much lee-way I had before it
would tip. None. Leaned to the right and over and into the water I
went. ( I've also owned larger canoes over the years, so I do know how
they handle) If you are tall, they are also very cramped. I'm 6 ft
tall and it seemed like my knees were up to my ears while in that
canoe. It might be fine for an occasional half hour paddle, but for
anything longer, I don't think it's a very good canoe for the task.



H Hornblower wrote in message . ..
12' royalex 33lb. solo canoe....I'm thinking of a purchase and would
appreciate comments from those familiar with this or other short,
light solo or double ender canoes.

I have one that is 15 or so years old and still paddle it
occasionally, althought I've more-or-less passed it on to my kids.

Paddled with a double blade (a 270-280cm or so Mohawk works well) it's
a fine little canoe. 15 years ago, when I packed more like a
backpacker, I canoe camped out of mine on weeklong trips on the Rio
Grande and Colorado.

The Pack has gobs of primary stability and not much secondary
stability; if you lean it over too far, or get your head out over the
gunwales without a good brace, you'll be very wet very suddenly. BTW,
I'm a fairly big guy, on the wide side up top and am undoubtedly
beyond the ideal weight range for ther Pack and, again, still paddle
it occasionally.

It's not a fast canoe (no duh), but it is easy to get it up to hull
speed, and it's not much affected by the wind. The Pack is a good
choice for poking around in the watery cracks and crevices, small
sloughs, narrowing side channels and in places where multiple portages
may be necessary (it is still my duckhunting boat of choice when I
plan to haul back through the marsh to some basin pothole).

(If you want to add more stability to the Pack you can always lower
the seat another inch or so).

Mike McCrea wrote:


(If you want to add more stability to the Pack you can always lower
the seat another inch or so).


Or simply kneel. Many a canoe accident started from the position of the
seat.Nearly all of them are too high; lowering an inch or two is indeed
a good first step. Get a foam pad or carpet layer's kneepads. Not only
is the center of gravity lower when kneeling, but your ability to shift
weight/position quickly in response to conditions is greatly improved.
This will more than likely aid the canoe's tracking as well.

Pete H

--
Either everyone has rights or some have privileges.
It's really that simple.
Walt Kelly

I've had one for 7-8 years. Nice little canoe for getting in tight places.
It isn't fast and it isn't sleek, but it is wonderfully light and works
great with a double-bladed paddle. I find the seat a little high, and I've
been saying for years I'll lower it an inch or two. It feels "tippy" to
inexperienced paddlers at first, and I've had people tip it over the first
time they've been in it. I've never had a problem though.

Pam

"H Hornblower" wrote in message
...
12' royalex 33lb. solo canoe....I'm thinking of a purchase and would
appreciate comments from those familiar with this or other short,
light solo or double ender canoes.

CanoePam wrote:
: I've had one for 7-8 years. Nice little canoe for getting in tight places.
: It isn't fast and it isn't sleek, but it is wonderfully light and works
: great with a double-bladed paddle. I find the seat a little high, and I've
: been saying for years I'll lower it an inch or two. It feels "tippy" to
: inexperienced paddlers at first, and I've had people tip it over the first
: time they've been in it. I've never had a problem though.

Yep, I agree.... one of our boats is a discovery 119k (similar size but about
10 pounds more). It's no problem with me in it, and we've carried small kids
in it too...

--
John Nelson
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Area Paddling/Fishing Page
http://www.chicagopaddling.org http://www.chicagofishing.org
(A Non-Commercial Web Site: No Sponsors, No Paid Ads and Nothing to Sell)

It would be hard to find a WORSE boat. Too short, too wide, an absolute
barge to paddle that will fill easily with water. IMHO, Old Town has never
been able to design a decent boat. Look at Mad River Canoes if you want to
paddle flat water; for whitewater, Mohawk's Probe-12 can't be beat. The
Pack boat also has very little room for FEET - your feet, that is. Try
kneeling against the seat and see what I mean!

Rainy from Roosevelt
"Chicago Paddling-Fishing" wrote in message
...
CanoePam wrote:
: I've had one for 7-8 years. Nice little canoe for getting in tight
places.
: It isn't fast and it isn't sleek, but it is wonderfully light and works
: great with a double-bladed paddle. I find the seat a little high, and
I've
: been saying for years I'll lower it an inch or two. It feels "tippy" to
: inexperienced paddlers at first, and I've had people tip it over the
first
: time they've been in it. I've never had a problem though.

Yep, I agree.... one of our boats is a discovery 119k (similar size but
about
10 pounds more). It's no problem with me in it, and we've carried small
kids
in it too...

--
John Nelson
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Area Paddling/Fishing Page
http://www.chicagopaddling.org http://www.chicagofishing.org
(A Non-Commercial Web Site: No Sponsors, No Paid Ads and Nothing to Sell)

The Old Town pack canoe is really good at only one thing: packing in to
beaver ponds & other remote quiet waters where a 4-weight fly rod is the
rule of the day. For anything else it's a disaster waiting to happen. As
for Old Town canoes in general, I'll put my XL-Tripper (20') up against
anything any time any where under light load or heavy and heavy weather
or light (except Class 4+ extended rapids). And my Discovery 169 - when
going solo - is about 80% as good as the XL-20. Admittedly, many of the
middle-of-the-road ahem-stream Old Town models there are as good or
better models forthe same money. As for Mad River, the low initial
stability & higher secondary stability takes some getting used to,
especially in the 3'-5' waves northern Maine lakes will spring on you
with less than ten minutes' warning.

Yours in the north Maine woods,
Pete Hilton (Reg. Me. Guide) aka The Ent

--
Freedom is participation in power.
Cicero

pmhilton wrote in :

The Old Town pack canoe is really good at only one thing: packing in to
beaver ponds & other remote quiet waters where a 4-weight fly rod is the
rule of the day.

A 4-weight for fishing beaver ponds? I use my 4-weight (a Sage RPL 490) for
the annual fall run of large brown trout (most in the 4-6 pound range) and
landlocked salmon (many in the 8-12 pound range). I've got a 7' 3 wt. rod
for small waters or I've got a nice little Southbend bamboo rod that I
sometimes use.